Kwaku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and failed husband, he
succumbs suddenly at dawn outside the home he shares in Ghana with his second
wife. The news of Kwaku’s death sends a ripple around the world, bringing
together the family he abandoned years before. Ghana Must Go is their story.

Ghana
Must Go follows the Sais’ journey, moving with great elegance through time
and place to share the truths hidden and lies told; the crimes committed in the
name of love. In the wake of Kwaku’s death, the family gathers in Ghana, at
their mother’s new home. The eldest son and his new wife; the mysterious,
beautiful twins; their baby sister, now a young woman—all come together for the
first time in years, each carrying secrets of his own. What is revealed in
their coming together is the story of how they came apart.

The horrible
fragility of the world they have built soon becomes clear, and Kwaku’s leaving
begets a series of betrayals that none of them could have imagined. Splintered,
alone, each navigates his pain, believing that what has been lost can never be
recovered—until, in Ghana, a new way forward, a new family, begins to emerge.

Ghana Must Go is at once a portrait of a
family and an exploration of the importance of where we come from and our
obligations to one another. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from West
Africa to New England to London, Ghana
Must Go teaches that the stories we share with one another can build a new
future.

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Quotes & Awards

“Gorgeous. Reminiscent of Jhumpa Lahiri but with
even greater warmth and vibrancy, Selasi’s novel, driven by her eloquent prose,
tells the powerful story of a family discovering that what once held them
together could make them whole again.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Nell Freudenberger, The New York Times Book Review:

Selasi’s ambition—to show her readers not "Africa" but one African family, authors of their own achievements and failures—is one that can be applauded no matter what accent you give the word."

The Wall Street Journal:

Irresistible from the first line—'Kweku dies barefoot on a Sunday before sunrise, his slippers by the doorway to the bedroom like dogs'—this bright, rhapsodic debut stood out in the thriving field of fiction about the African diaspora.”

The Economist:

Ghana Must Go comes with a bagload of prepublication praise. For once, the brouhaha is well deserved. Ms. Selasi has an eye for the perfect detail: a baby's toenails 'like dewdrops', a woman sleeps 'like a cocoyam. A thing without senses... unplugged from the world.' As a writer she has a keen sense of the baggage of childhood pain and an unforgettable voice on the page. Miss out on Ghana Must Go and you will miss one of the best new novels of the season."

The Wall Street Journal:"Buoyant... a joy... Rapturous."

Entertainment Weekly:

[Selasi] writes elegantly about the ways people grow apart — husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and kids."

Elle magazine:

In Ghana Must Go, Selasi drives the six characters skillfully through past and present, unearthing old betrayals and unexplained grievances at a delicious pace. By the time the surviving five convene at a funeral in Ghana, we are invested in their reconciliation—which is both realistically shaky and dramatically satisfying… Narrative gold."

The Daily Beast:

Selasi’s prose… is a rewarding mix of soulful conjuring and intelligent introspection, and points to a bright future."

Booklist:

Powerful... A finely crafted yarn that seamlessly weaves the past and present, Selasi’s moving debut expertly limns the way the bonds of family endure even when they are tested and strained."

Publishers Weekly (starred review):

Gorgeous. Reminiscent of Jhumpa Lahiri but with even greater warmth and vibrancy, Selasi’s novel, driven by her eloquent prose, tells the powerful story of a family discovering that what once held them together could make them whole again."

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love:

Taiye Selasi is a young writer of staggering gifts and extraordinary sensitivity. Ghana Must Go seems to contain the entire world, and I shall never forget it.”

Sapphire, author of The Kid and Push:

Taiye Selasi is a totally new and near perfect voice that spans continents and social strata as effortlessly as the insertion of an ellipsis or a dash. With mesmerizing craftsmanship and massive imagination she takes the reader on an unforgettable journey across continents and most importantly deeply into the lives of the people whom she writes about. She de-'exoticizes' whole populations and demographics and brings them firmly into the readers view as complicated and complex human beings. Taiye Selasi's Ghana Must Go is a big novel, elemental, meditative, and mesmerizing; and when one adds the words 'first novel,' we speak about the beginning of an amazing career and a very promising life in letters."

Teju Cole, author of Open City:

Ghana Must Go is both a fast moving story of one family's fortunes and an ecstatic exploration of the inner lives of its members. With her perfectly-pitched prose and flawless technique, Selasi does more than merely renew our sense of the African novel: she renews our sense of the novel, period. An astonishing debut."

“Taiye Selasi is a young writer of staggering gifts and
extraordinary sensitivity. Ghana Must Go
seems to contain the entire world, and I shall never forget it.”

Elizabeth Gilbert,
New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love

“With her
perfectly pitched prose and flawless technique, Selasi does more than merely
renew our sense of the African novel: she renews our sense of the novel,
period. An astonishing debut.”

Teju Cole, author of Open City

“Taiye Selasi’s Ghana
Must Go is a big novel, elemental, meditative, and mesmerizing; and when
one adds the words ‘first novel,’ we speak about the beginning of an amazing
career and a very promising life in letters.”

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